St. George, Utah has two electric companies, and the Virgin River mostly decides which one you get. The City of St. George serves the north side, and Dixie Power serves the parts of the city south of the river, which the city itself names as Bloomington, Bloomington Hills and Little Valley. At the published residential rates before tax, a house using 2,000 kWh in a summer month pays $216.61 on St. George City power and $181.04 on Dixie Power, a $35.57 gap. Below about 856 kWh in summer the city is the cheaper of the two by a couple of dollars, and from October through May Dixie wins at almost any usage above about 298 kWh. The other news is brand new: St. George started a monthly power cost adjustment on bills in October 2026, and the first one is a credit.
I built a free tool for exactly this question, and every dollar figure in this post can be reproduced in it by entering the same usage. Open the Southern Utah power cost calculator.
Which power company serves my address in St. George, Utah?
If the home is north of the Virgin River, St. George City Energy Services almost certainly provides the electricity, and if it is south of the river, Dixie Power does. The city's own utility application page says it in one line: electric service in the part of St. George south of the Virgin River, naming Bloomington, Bloomington Hills and Little Valley, is provided by Dixie Power, and the city supplies only water, sewer and garbage there. That area was already on Dixie Power when the city annexed it in the 1980s, which is why the city line and the power line do not match.
Treat the river as a rule of thumb and the address as the answer. Dixie Power publishes an address search on its service area page, the city publishes a utility map, and the simplest check of all is asking the seller for a recent power bill, which also tells you the usage. I would not rely on a listing remark or a neighbor's guess for this, because the line runs through neighborhoods people think of as one place.
Sources: City of St. George utility application page. Dixie Power address search. St. George utility map.
Washington County actually has six electric providers, not two, and Hurricane, Washington City and Santa Clara each have their own lines. I covered the whole county and the California comparison in an earlier post, so this one stays on the St. George question. Read the county-wide electric rates post.
How do Dixie Power and St. George City rates work?
Dixie Power charges a flat rate with a seasonal switch, and St. George City charges a tiered rate with no seasons. Those two structures are the whole story, because they push the bills apart in opposite directions as usage climbs.
Dixie Power's Utah residential tariff, effective March 1, 2025, is a $29.00 monthly service availability charge plus $0.07602 per kWh in the June through September billing months and $0.0675 per kWh from October through May. Every kilowatt hour costs the same within a season, whether it is your 100th or your 3,000th. Dixie's rate PDF on its own rate schedule page still shows that March 2025 tariff as current when I checked it on October 12, 2026.
St. George City charges a $26.00 base charge, $0.077582 per kWh for the first 800 kWh and $0.107120 per kWh for everything above 800, all year. I checked those tiers against the sample bill the city posted on its power cost adjustment page in October 2026: 2,330 kWh billed at $225.96 in energy charges, which is exactly 800 kWh at the first tier plus 1,530 kWh at the second. The city does not print an effective date on its rate table, so I can tell you the rates are current, but not when they took effect.
Sources: Dixie Power rate schedule page. St. George energy rates.
Which is cheaper, Dixie Power or St. George City?
Dixie Power is cheaper for most St. George households most of the year, and St. George City is cheaper only for light users in summer. In the June through September billing months the two cross at about 856 kWh a month. From October through May they cross at about 298 kWh, so nearly every occupied house pays less on Dixie in the cool months. The table shows monthly bills before tax and before any power cost adjustment, at the same usage on both systems.
| Monthly usage | St. George City (all year) | Dixie Power, June to September | Dixie Power, October to May | Source and date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 kWh | $64.79 | $67.01 | $62.75 | Published tariffs, checked October 12, 2026 |
| 774 kWh (Utah average) | $86.05 | $87.84 | $81.25 | Usage from EIA 2024 Utah average; tariffs October 12, 2026 |
| 1,000 kWh | $109.49 | $105.02 | $96.50 | Published tariffs, checked October 12, 2026 |
| 1,500 kWh | $163.05 | $143.03 | $130.25 | Published tariffs, checked October 12, 2026 |
| 2,000 kWh | $216.61 | $181.04 | $164.00 | Published tariffs, checked October 12, 2026 |
| 3,000 kWh | $323.73 | $257.06 | $231.50 | Published tariffs, checked October 12, 2026 |
The gap is small where most people think it matters and large where they never look. At the Utah average of 774 kWh, the figure the U.S. Energy Information Administration reports for 2024, the difference in summer is $1.79 a month, in the city's favor. At 3,000 kWh, which is a big house with a pool running hard in July, Dixie is $66.67 a month cheaper, and in a winter month at that usage the gap is $92.23. A household that splits the year between those two levels can easily see several hundred dollars a year of difference based on nothing but which side of the river the house sits on.
One honest caveat about the table: it holds usage fixed. Real bills move with the house, the pool, the number of air conditioners and whether someone charges an electric vehicle in the garage, and those swing a bill far more than the provider does.
What is the new St. George power cost adjustment?
It is a per kWh charge or credit that the City of St. George now adds to every power bill and resets each month, and the first one, for October 2026, is a credit of $0.00503 per kWh. On the city's own sample bill, 2,330 kWh times that rate came to an $11.72 credit. At 2,000 kWh it would be $10.06 off the bill, and at the 774 kWh average it would be $3.89.
The city describes the adjustment as reflecting market changes in its wholesale cost of electricity, fuel and transmission, so that it can move monthly instead of changing the base rates. The direction matters: it is a credit this month, and the same mechanism can be a charge next month, so do not budget on October's number. The city posts each month's figure on its power cost adjustment page, and as of October 12, 2026 only October was filled in.
Dixie Power's tariff has a similar clause. Its residential schedule says the rates are subject to a wholesale power cost adjustment and a peak season adjustment, either upward or downward. I could not find a currently published Dixie adjustment amount, so I am not putting a number on it. My calculator does not include either adjustment yet, so treat its figures as base rates.
Source: St. George power cost adjustment page.
What taxes are added to a St. George power bill?
On St. George City power, a 6.0 percent municipal energy tax and a 3.9 percent sales tax are added to the electric charges, which works out to multiplying the bill by 1.099. That matches the real St. George and Hurricane city bills I used to build the calculator and the city's October 2026 sample bill, where $240.24 of electric charges carried $14.41 of energy tax and $9.37 of sales tax. So the $216.61 figure for 2,000 kWh becomes about $238.05 after tax.
I have not seen a real Dixie Power bill, and Dixie is a cooperative rather than a city, so I have not verified how its bills are taxed. That is why every number in this post is quoted before tax for both companies. Comparing a taxed city bill to an untaxed Dixie figure would make the gap look bigger than it is.
What is the difference between a cooperative and a city utility?
Dixie Power is a member-owned, not-for-profit cooperative, and St. George City Energy Services is a department of the city government. When you sign up with Dixie Power you become a member, and the cooperative allocates its yearly margin to members in proportion to what they were billed. The board declares refunds of those capital credits near the end of the year, paid as a percentage of each member's balance, so a long-time member gets money back that a city customer never sees. Dixie's capital credits page explains the process.
The city's utility answers to the city council instead. St. George Energy Services says it serves about 36,000 customers with an annual peak of 215 megawatts, and it owns generation rather than buying every kilowatt hour. Its MillCreek gas generation facility runs two 40 megawatt GE LM6000 turbine sets, it has 20 megawatts of diesel generation at its separate Bloomington and Red Rock facilities, and its SunSmart solar farm has a nameplate capacity of 250 kilowatts. The rest comes over transmission lines.
Sources: Dixie Power capital credits. St. George Energy Services.
What about solar and time-of-day rates?
Solar is where buyers get surprised, because the rules belong to the utility and not to the house. St. George adopted its net metering program in 2005 and revised it in 2015, adding a one-time application fee, a one-time bi-directional meter fee and a monthly solar reliability fee, and its program documents were last updated in April 2025. The city's own net metering page tells homeowners to contact Energy Services before signing a solar purchase agreement, and I would apply the same advice to buying a house that already has panels.
On the Dixie side I could not find a published rooftop export credit rate, so if the house you want south of the river has panels, ask Dixie Power directly what the existing system is credited and whether that carries over to a new owner. Dixie does publish an optional residential time-of-day rate that a pool owner should know about, and it only has peak hours in summer. In the June through September billing months power costs $0.11002 per kWh from 3:30 to 7:30 in the afternoon and $0.0515 per kWh at every other hour of those same months, with the same $29.00 monthly charge. From October through May that schedule is a flat $0.0675 per kWh with no peak period at all, the same energy rate as Dixie's standard residential service. If your pump and your dishwasher can run after 7:30, that schedule can beat the standard Dixie rate.
Sources: St. George net metering information. Dixie Power Utah rate tariffs (PDF).
How do I set up power when I buy a home south of the river?
You open two accounts: one with Dixie Power for electricity and one with the City of St. George for water, sewer and garbage. The city's application page is clear that its services still need a separate application in Dixie territory. The city does not offer same-day connections, and if you rent, it requires a $125.00 deposit for residential services. Dixie Power's office is at 145 W. Brigham Road in St. George, and city customer service is 435-627-4700.
Line both up before closing, not after. I tell buyers to put the power and water transfers on the same list as the homeowner's insurance, because a Friday closing with no power on Saturday in August is a miserable first weekend. If the home is new construction, the city also says you need to request a garbage can from Washington County Solid Waste.
Does the power company change what a house is worth?
Not that I have seen in the sales, and I would not pay more for a house just because it is on Dixie. What it changes is the cost of running the house, and that is a real number a buyer should know before writing an offer. The buyers who end up unhappy are the ones who bought a large house with a pool and never asked to see the summer bills.
So my advice is simple. Ask for twelve months of power bills, find the highest summer month, enter that usage in the calculator for the correct utility, and add the 9.9 percent city tax if the house is on St. George power. That gives you a real monthly number to put next to the mortgage, the property tax and the HOA dues.
The rest of the cost of owning here is covered by the other tools on this site. Estimate property taxes by tax area. Estimate closing costs. See the current St. George market report. Browse St. George homes for sale.
Frequently asked questions
Is Dixie Power cheaper than St. George City power?
Yes, for most households. Before tax, Dixie Power is cheaper above about 856 kWh a month in the June through September billing months and above about 298 kWh a month from October through May, based on both utilities' published residential rates checked October 12, 2026. At 2,000 kWh in a summer month, Dixie is $181.04 and St. George City is $216.61.
Who provides electricity south of the Virgin River in St. George, Utah?
Dixie Power does. The City of St. George's utility application page says electric service in the part of the city south of the Virgin River, including Bloomington, Bloomington Hills and Little Valley, is provided by Dixie Power, while the city provides water, sewer and garbage there. Confirm any single address with Dixie Power's address search or a recent bill.
Can I choose between Dixie Power and St. George City power?
No. Each address is in one utility's service territory, and the company that serves the address is the one you use. The only way to change providers is to buy a house on the other side of the line, which is why it is worth checking before you make an offer.
What is the power cost adjustment on my St. George bill?
It is a monthly per kWh charge or credit the City of St. George began adding to power bills in October 2026, set to reflect its wholesale cost of electricity, fuel and transmission. The October 2026 adjustment is a credit of $0.00503 per kWh, about $10 on a 2,000 kWh month, and the city resets it every month.
How much is a power bill in St. George, Utah?
At the 2024 Utah average of 774 kWh a month, a St. George City bill is $86.05 before tax and about $94.57 after the city's 9.9 percent in taxes, and a Dixie Power bill is $87.84 in summer and $81.25 the rest of the year before tax. My own house, with a shop, a pool and six air conditioners, used 6,144 kWh in July 2026, so check the actual bills for the house you want.
Want to know what a specific house will cost to run?
I have sold real estate in St. George for 13 years, and the power bill is one of the questions I make sure my buyers can answer before they commit to a house. If you are looking south of the river or north of it and want help reading the bills, the HOA documents or the tax numbers, I am glad to walk through them with you.
Call me at 435-200-5508. You can also send me a message on my contact page. Open the contact form. Run your own numbers in the power cost calculator.